Welcome to my first trip report! In this report I will write about my recent trip to the USA and share some good travel tips and tricks with you, as well as inspiration on what to do in the places I visited! In the end it turned out that this trip was almost free for me, as I received a nice compensation for my cancelled flight which covered all my expenses for flights and uber rides. You can read all about it in this blog! For those of you who do not want to read, hereby a short video (created by google) about my trip:
One week ago I was browsing my Facebook timeline when my attention was caught by a Secret Flying Facebook post, they had a nice last minute deal from Brussels to Miami. Especially the outbound fights (from BRU to MIA) were really cheap! The deal looked pretty attractive, so I checked my work schedule, the weather forecast in Miami and I called my friend Jecquard from Miami to ask what his plans were for the upcoming days. The weather forecast looked good (30C with sun), I was able to move my work shifts and I could stay with my friend so I decided to book this deal! €99 got me a one-way ticket to Miami. For my flight home I booked a ticket with KLM from Los Angeles to Amsterdam and paid for it with my miles. To get me from Florida to California I booked a domestic flight for €150.
Monday evening after my work finished at 22h, I work at Schiphol Amsterdam, I took the Flixbus directly from Schiphol to Brussels airport. After a few hours of listening to music and some sleep I arrived there around 03h in the morning. Brussels airport has ONE place which is open 24/7, the Starbucks in the departure hall, so I decided to order an overpriced midnight snack and camp at the Starbucks for 3 hours, the WiFi is fast in Brussel so I watched some Netflix and slept for a bit. When checking in I asked the gate agent for a window seat but she wasn’t able to change it anymore, she did however tell me that row 20 was still empty and with a smile she wished me a pleasant flight (Pro tip: always be very polite smile and just ask for better seats and you’ll be surprised how often things can be arranged). Although my boarding pass said seat 24F I boarded the plane as one of the last people and found that row 20 was indeed empty, so I decided to sit myself at that row and enjoyed a very smooth and comfortable flight with TUI Fly Belgium. TUI Fly offers complimentary meals, soft drinks and coffee, although checking a bag is not free (I flew carry on only).
Upon clearing border control, which can take up to two hours in Miami, luckily this time I was able to use the clear receipt lane (for returning visitors travelling with ESTA and not declaring any goods). The border control officer asked me why I travelled to Miami again (I just visited in March for Ultra), I explained him the situation and he stamped my passport. Next I picked up my rental car, unfortunately Miami does not have suitable public transportation, so you need a car here. For 20 dollars more I was able to get a Ford Mustang Convertible rather than an economic car so I decided to enjoy the short time I had and went for the convertible. (Pro tip: book your rental car via economycarrentals.com, only works for non-US/Canadians). I drove straight to my favorite place in South Florida: Hollywood Beach. Hollywood is where I spend 7 months during my internship back in 2013 and ever since I fell in love with this place.
Just look at it! Isn’t it adorable? This is how I expected it to be this time again! Unfortunately this turned out different… While I was driving north more and more darker clouds appeared in the distance, but as it was still sunny I decided to stick with the plan and go to the beach. When I arrived at Riptide, my favorite tiki bar (an outdoor bar near the beach), the weather was still okay. 5 minutes later everybody’s phone starts beeping: an emergency text message was spread: Tornado warning for Hollywood was issued! The sky turned black and people suddenly started making pictures and videos.. something was going on! I looked around the corner and I saw this:
A tornado in the distance! This one did not touched the ground (as far as I could see), but a few others did in Fort Lauderdale. The tornado disappeared quickly, but a heavy downpour started. I decided to get out of there and meet my buddy Jecquard in a sportsbar in Miami for some food. We concluded the day with some pool in downtown Hollywood. We used uber from North Miami to Hollywood, a 15min ride, approx. 15km, costs: $7-13. Uber is a very affordable way to move yourself around when there is a lack of public transportation.
The next day it was time to go the mall to buy some things I needed. One of the reasons for me to conduct this trip was the fact that I needed some new clothes and shoes and that the prices are significantly lower in the USA compared to the Netherlands. I visited Sawgrass Mills Mall, one of the largest malls in the USA with over 300 stores and spend a few hours here. The weather was beautiful this day so I decided to drive to the beach, normally parking at the beach would cost me $3 an hour, but I am allowed to park at an airbnb where I stayed a year ago so I was able to park for free! Unfortunately it was windy today and after already one hour I decided to leave for Duffy’s. Duffy’s is a sportsbar with a swimming pool, nice views and happy hour all day, everyday. In the evening Jecquard and I met up with my friend Christian in downtown Hollywood for some drinks and talk. We met some weirdos, one Canadian guy was stuck in Florida because a cop took his ID as he was caught with drugs, and another guy was mad because Messi doesn’t speak English, all with all it was a hilarious night! By midnight we called it a day and went home as my friends have to work the next day.
Hollywood at night.
Thursday, my last day in Florida, I decided to take it easy and started the day with breakfast at a Cuban place. After that I headed to the Walmart to get some cash, as my next destination would be Las Vegas! (Pro tip: ATM’s in the USA charge you $3-5 for withdraws, but in the Walmart you can get “Cash back” for free). The rest of the day I chilled at the Hollywood beach and Riptide bar and I met up with Jecquard for lunch and said goodbye. Around 3pm it was time to head to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport to drop my Mustang and leave Florida. I flew Delta airlines, my favorite US carrier, to Atlanta where I had a short 1hr layover. Atlanta is the world’s busiest airport, but very efficiently organised so I had plenty of time to grab something to eat before my flight to Las Vegas boarded. Delta is my favorite carrier because they have free WiFi for messaging and streaming on board, comfortable seats and on time departures. Besides this, as a Flying Blue member (KLM’s frequent flier program) I was entitled to 2 free checked bags and I earned miles for my flights. The flights were smooth and on time, although very packed as Thursday evening is a popular time to fly to Vegas.
Upon arrival in Vegas I ordered an Uber to drive me to the strip where I ate some White Castle Burgers, recommended to get a nice typical white castle burger! After this an Uber dropped me off at the RV park where my friends were staying. We decided to leave Vegas and camp in the Red Rock Canyon, only half an hour outside the city! This turned out to be a very good decision as we woke up with this view:
Isn’t it as I woke up in one of the episodes of Breaking Bad? The next stop was the border town of Pahrump where we filled up the RV with gas (gas prices in California are significantly higher), gambled a bit and stocked up on groceries before we headed to the California desert and national park Death Valley. I made a small $14 profit with Blackjack, whoohoo! In Death Valley ntl Park we visited the rock formations of Zabrinski point, Badwater salt flakes and the sand dunes where we had dinner.
After dinner we drove to Ballarat, a ghost town just outside the national park and underneath Telescope peak, the highest point in Death Valley. We made a fire at the camp ground under the clear night skies where we had an incredible view on the stars and after that we explored the ghost town. It was a bit creepy as all the buildings were unlocked and there was a lot of abandoned stuff there. In a box we even found a revolver and ammunition. Of course, we left everything as we found it and donated a few dollars to the caretaker of the town the next morning.
Saturday we drove from Ballarat towards the LA-area. On our way we wanted to go to Calico ghost town, but when we arrived it looked more like a theme park with a $15 entrance fee, so we skipped the line with tourists and drove to an old airport instead where we visited an airplane graveyard and saw a lot of stripped down airplanes. We finished the day in Huntington Beach where we were just in time for the sunset and found a nice seafront campground. In the evening we had dinner in the city and walked a bit around. It was this moment that I received an e-mail from KLM stating: “unfortunately your flight KL0602 has been cancelled, we will rebook you on the next possibility to Amsterdam”. My first reaction naturally was a bit annoying, not knowing when I would go home. But within minutes I realized this might be the best news I received during this trip as I could be entitled to a huge compensation!
The next morning the plan was to drive with my friends to Hollywood, CA and after that head to the airport. But waking up to an e-mail by KLM stating I was rebooked to the later KL0604, changed my plans. First of all I knew what this 3,5hr later flight meant: I was entitled to a 300 euro compensation and refreshments such as drinks and meals. Because of my later flight departure I was able to visit the walk of fame with my friends, we walked around for a bit and after that it was time to say goodbye to them! They were continuing their trip with their RV towards San Francisco and I had to kill a few more hours in the LA-area. I decided to spend my last few hours soaking up some sunrays and bought a resort pass to the W hotel. This pass granted me access to their pool and a sunbed with towel for the day. I ordered a few drinks and a lunch and enjoyed their pool. There was a bit of smog and clouds so it was not very sunny this day. Around 2.30pm I ordered my uber and headed to the lobby to catch my ride to the airport, which took me over an hour because of the traffic. After checking in I headed to the lounge where I had some food and drinks before boarding my plane back home around 5pm, it was a very crowded but comfortable flight. Today I already received a confirmation from KLM that they will reimburse me the 300 euro plus $53 for my drinks and meal! Read more about how you can claim your compensation right here.
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MKs Travel 